Washington: The US state of Georgia has said that it will recount the votes in the 2020 presidential elections after Joe Biden secured a slim lead over incumbent President Donald J Trump.
Though both the presidential candidates secured 49.4% of the counted ballots, Biden was ahead of Trump by 1,579 votes as of Friday morning with 4,169 ballots left to count, Georgia’s voting system implementation manager Gabriel Sterling told reporters. She added that since the margin is so small, there will be a recount in the state.
After President Trump, with no evidence to support his claims, alleged that there was widespread fraud nationwide, Georgia, a long time Republican stronghold, has allowed observers from both campaigns watch the counting.
There are two ways to get a recount in the state of Georgia. One is where a presidential candidate, who loses by 0.5% of less of the votes, can force a recount by submitting a written request to the secretary of state. Another is where a candidate can ask the secretary of state to conduct a recount by alleging a “discrepancy or error” in the vote tabulation. The state law, in the second case, gives the secretary discretion about whether or not to initiate a recount.
In local counties, election officials can also conduct recounts if they think there is a discrepancy in the tabulation.
Meanwhile, officials have said that there are approxiately 9,000 military and overseas ballots still pending and could be accepted if they arrive on Friday and are postmarked on November 3 or earlier.
